"Ocean's Twelve"

Title: "Ocean's Twelve"
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Producers: Jerry Weintraub
Editing: Stephen Mirrione
Composer: David Holmes
Starring:
- George Clooney as Daniel Ocean
- Brad Pitt as Rusty Ryan
- Matt Damon as Linus Caldwell
- Bernie Mac as Frank Catton
- Elliott Gould as Reuben Tishkoff
- Casey Affleck as Virgil Malloy
- Scott Caan as Turk Malloy
- Eddie Jemison as Livingston Dell
- Don Cheadle as Basher Tarr
- Shaobo Qin as "The Amazing" Yen
- Carl Reiner as Saul Bloom
- Julia Roberts as Tess Ocean/Herself
- Catherine Zeta-Jones as Europol Detective Isabel Lahiri
- Andy García as Terry Benedict

Plot and Critical Review: Terry Benedict rounds up the original eleven members of Danny Ocean's gang, demanding they return the $160 million they stole from his casinos. He also demands an additional $38 million to cover the interest. Short by half, the group schemes to stage another heist in Europe to avoid problems with U.S. authorities. They are tipped off by an informant named Matsui about the location of the first stock certificate ever issued in 1602, which was for the Dutch East India Company, owned by an agoraphobe and kept in his private home in Amsterdam. While the certificate would not meet their debt, it would help extend their deadline and secure another job by Matsui that will be enough to pay the debt. After a complex series of schemes, including raising the house a few inches to achieve a necessary line-of-sight, they find the document has already been stolen by another master thief "The Night Fox." After the failed attempt, Europol Detective Isabel Lahiri is called to investigate the theft and realizes Danny's gang attempted the heist based on her previous relationship with Rusty as well as the Night Fox's involvement. She surprises the group at their lodgings, and warns them they cannot beat the Night Fox or his mentor LeMarc, both of whom she has been trailing for years.

Danny and his gang discover the Night Fox is a wealthy businessman, Baron François Toulour, who has a mansion on Lake Como. Toulour invites Danny to his mansion and reveals that he had hired Matsui to inform the gang about the certificate in order to arrange the meeting with Danny. Toulour is upset that LeMarc did not describe him as the best thief in the world, and challenges Danny to steal the Coronation Egg. If Danny and his gang wins, Toulour will pay off the debt to Benedict.

Danny and his gang begin planning an elaborate heist to swap the Egg and replace it with a holographic recreation, but the engineer hired by the group accidentally tips off Lahiri to their presence and she captures most of The Twelve on their first attempt to steal the Egg. Linus comes up with a second plan to have Danny's wife Tess pose as a pregnant Julia Roberts in order to get close to the Egg and swap it. They are foiled by the unexpected appearance of Bruce Willis and, as a result of Tess' inability to play the role of the real Julia Roberts, the authorities are once again tipped off and the rest of the group are taken into custody. While Lahiri prepares her case against Danny's team they are extradited by the FBI with some additional assistance from Linus' mother who poses as a U.S. official.

Some time later, Danny and Tess return to Toulour's estate where he basks in their failure. Toulour claims to have stolen the Egg at night using his agility and Capoeira skills to evade the heavy security. Toulour's celebration is short-lived when Danny reveals that his group stole the Egg while it was in transit to the museum and Toulour realises they were tipped off by LeMarc. A flashback reveals that Danny and Rusty had met with LeMarc much earlier where he told them where and how the Egg would be transported. Toulour is forced to admit that Danny won the bet and gives him the money. They pay back Benedict and promise not to perform any more heists in his casinos, but Toulour keeps the group under close supervision. With Rusty's help, Lahiri is taken to a safe house lent to him by LeMarc, who reveals himself to be her father.

"The Dip". Every film series containing at least three installments fears it, for it is the ultimate test of the longevity of the series itself. If the middle film can't at least live up to some of the hype of the first (presuming the first was successful), the rest of the series is more than likely doomed. There are exceptions, of course, and we can identify some film series that actually got better with each installment, but the vast majority of trilogies (or series of longer lengths) suffer from "The Dip"; a second installment that just doesn't deliver like the first. This was the fate of the "Ocean's" series. Coming off of the overwhelming success of "Eleven", most believed that "Twelve" would deliver the same energy, humor, and excitement. While "Twelve" is exciting, includes a few good laughs, and certainly reflects the talents of the star-studded cast, it just couldn't keep pace with "Eleven". The first time I saw "Twelve" I was so put off by the dragging tempo I didn't even finish it! I've come to appreciate it more in recent years, and I think we can see how it does serve the critical function of bridging the "Ocean's" series as it keeps the story alive and develops plot devices. But like so many other series that faltered while in "The Dip", redemption for "Twelve" was waiting in the wings as another installment was yet to come.

My Rating: 5.5/10

Content to Caution:
V-2 - No comment.
L-2.5 - Some curses are bleeped by ringing phones, etc. I'm sure you can figure out what they're really saying.
DU-2 - Some drinking and smoking.
RT-.5 - No comment.
H/S-1.5 - Some excitement during heist scenes, but no real horror or suspense.
CH-1.5 - No comment.
S/N-1.5 - Lahiri is shown in bed (no nudity) and several women wear skimpy and/or tight-fitting clothing.

The "Reel Revelation": "Being A Team Player - Pt. 2"

"Alright, pick your team." We all know the scene; two captains stand before a row of eager players. One at a time the captains select someone to play on their team. The first few players to be selected are elated; they know they're the cream of the crop. The next batch are enthusiastic, but realize they're not quite the best. They're just glad to be selected! Soon there are only two players left to choose from, and one of them is going to walk to his or her team feeling no elation or enthusiasm whatsoever, only crushing disappointment that they were the least desired player of the whole group. Have you ever been in that person's shoes?

To say "life can be just like that" is ridiculous. Life can be 100x worse. Sometimes we're rejected outright; the team would rather be a man short than have us play with them. Sometimes we can't even find a line to stand in to get into the game. Disappointment is one thing, but never getting to play at all? The feeling is debilitating, and we'll probably walk away feeling like we never want to play again. I've felt that way.

From November of 2009 to January of 2011 I was looking for work. I flew out to the Midwest three times to interview at churches that were seeking an individual to fill a music/liturgy position. Each trip was met with disappointment; no one hired me. In the days after finding out they had selected someone else I often felt like I had just been dumped. You know the feeling; dismissal, betrayal, deep hurt, and so on. And what do we hear people say when they go through messy break-ups? "I'm never going to date again!" That's precisely how I felt, like I never wanted to apply for another job ever again. But beyond my disappointment and hurt I felt something much deeper and stronger; envy. I'd stay up at night and ask myself 'What do they (the winning candidates) have that I don't?' 'Aren't my gifts good enough?!' On and on it went. My hurt turned into critical comparison. My disappointment turned into self-destruction. What good were my gifts if none of these churches wanted to employ me to use them? And then, just when I was ready to give up altogether, I remembered St. Paul's admonition to the Romans:

"For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." (Romans 12:4-5)

"...and all members do not have the same function..."

You might not be able to play the guitar like Doyle Dykes, but even Doyle needs someone who can change strings in a hurry.

You might not be able to drive like Jimmie Johnson, but do you think he's going to hop out of his car and change those tires on his own?

You might not be able to speak like Billy Graham, but everyone needs someone to listen.

Becoming a member of the Body of Christ involves the process of learning how to find peace in the position where God has placed you. It might not be the position you've always dreamed of. It might not provide you with the sort of compensation you desire or should prefer. But if you know that it's what God has summoned you to do, that it is your "function", why fret? Why worry? Why compare? Do not think of the other players on the team in terms of what they may or may not be able to do better than you. Remember that you're on the same team and are trying to achieve the same goal.

"There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift." (Ephesians 4:4-7)

God loves us on an individual level, in a way more personal and thorough than we could ever hope to know or understand. And yet He loves the Body of Christ with equal zeal and unwavering faithfulness. With a single glance He sees us as individuals and as members in the Body of His Son, Our Lord.

Why fret?

Why worry?

Why compare?

We say:

- "Oh, to be like her!"

- "Oh, to be able to do what he can do!"

- "Oh, if only I could just be..."

God says:

- "Be like Me."

See you tomorrow- E.T.